New Milford grad helps the 'poorest of the poor"

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 8:00 pm, Saturday, November 1, 2008

But for "the poorest of the poor" in the West African nation of Senegal, where Karen Cobos Latham works, those modest sums can spell the difference between continued poverty and eventual financial security.

For the past two years, the 1994 New Milford High School graduate has worked for Catholic Relief Services, helping to teach rural Senegalese who don't have access to banks how to save small amounts of money that can be borrowed by other community members to buy seed, purchase livestock or start a business.

She is stationed in the capital city of Dakar but spends much of her time traveling in the southern part of the country, supervising the teams that train people how to set up and operate Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILCs).

Each community group is composed of about 15 to 20 people who are in charge of lending the money. The borrowers repay the loans with interest, which is redeposited in the "bank" and loaned out again.

"Everyone was kind of skeptical when we started, but it's been amazing to see the response," said Latham. "These are very close-knit communities and for the people, borrowing money, then repaying it, allows them to keep their dignity."

Currently, there are 51 SILCs working in 35 villages in the Casamance region of southern Senegal.

"Some of these people have seen a 25 to 30 percent return on their savings," she said.

While the actual dollar amounts are small, they are significant in a region where poverty is rampant, she said.

Catholic Relief Services, which is based in the United States, is a non-governmental organization that provides assistance to people in more than 100 countries. Latham began working with them in 2006, after spending several years in Africa with other aid organizations, including the Peace Corps and the World Food Program.

Latham, who came to the United States from Colombia as a child with her parents, Pedro and Maria Christina Cobos, is back in the U.S. for a few months awaiting the birth of her first child. She is married to Brent Latham, a reporter who covers West Africa for the Voice of America broadcast network.

After high school, she graduated from Tufts University and worked with Heal the Children, a charity that brings children to the United States for medical treatment.

She spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Ivory Coast before being forced to leave the country during an attempted coup. She then went to work with the World Food Program in Guinea before earning a master's degree in international relations at Georgetown University.

Part of her responsibilities in her current job also include helping rural farmers increase their production of staples such as rice, corn, millet and sorghum and bringing the crops to market.

"Food prices in Senegal increased 25 to 50 percent in the last year," she said. "When you're already living on the margin, it doesn't take much to push you over."

Latham said it was her own experience as an immigrant that sparked her interest in international service.

Catholic Relief Services has been active in Senegal since the country became independent in 1960.

"It's a pretty amazing organization," she said. "The staff is mostly from the countries where they are working, and it's an extremely diverse and committed team. Everybody brings their skills together."

In her work, Latham said she's met many people, including government officials, who remember how the agency helped them, and she can't wait until she can get back to Senegal.

"Being in a place where you can affect someone in a positive way is a challenge, but it's extremely rewarding," she said. "You're not going to change the world, but you do make an impact on people's lives."